Lowering speeds will cut road toll: expert

CUTTING the speed limit could significantly reduce the number of people who die on Australian roads, a leading road trauma researcher says.

A total of 48 people died on Australian roads this Christmas/New Year period, slightly less than the 50 who died over the 2011/12 period, according to the Australia New Zealand Policing Advisory Agency (ANZPAA).

Professor Max Cameron from the Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC) says there are things that can be done - especially on rural roads - to further cut the road toll.

"The modern thinking about road safety is we've gone about as far as we can go in preventing crashes ... but we want to make those crashes less injurious and the key to making crashes less injurious in terms of fatal outcome is to crash at lower speeds," Prof Cameron told AAP.

"No matter how the crash occurs, whether it's drink-driving or drug-driving or fatigue, if you crash at a lower speed you're much less likely to result in a fatal crash."

This holiday season, NSW - which started its holiday road period two days before the rest of the country - had the highest number of fatalities with 15 deaths, followed by Victoria where nine people lost their lives.

For 2012, Victoria had a record low road toll of 279, making it the fifth consecutive year of improvements.

South Australia was the only other state to reduce its road toll for 2012, according to Victoria Police.

Prof Cameron attributed this to speed limit enforcement.

"The one thing that both those states do, and Victoria in particular, is really get serious about speed enforcement," he said.

"Most other states seem to be even apologetic in terms of enforcing even existing speed limits let alone the lower ones that I'm talking about."

But SA's acting assistant police commissioner Michael Cornish said the state's seven deaths over the period were all avoidable.

"In some cases those who died made very deliberate decisions to place themselves and other road users at risk by speeding or drinking alcohol and driving, but in some cases it was just a moment of distraction or inattention," Mr Cornish said.

Mr Cornish said despite an intensive policing campaign, positive drugs and alcohol tests during the holiday period were up on the previous year.

The number of positive drug tests rose from 33 to 97, alcohol offences increased to 220 from 209 while speeding fines more than doubled to 1440.